{"id":63117,"date":"2019-09-18T15:59:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T12:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=63117"},"modified":"2023-04-11T16:12:48","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T13:12:48","slug":"the-hairy-prophet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-hairy-prophet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hairy Prophet"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[576,858,932,800,390],"acf":{"old_id":"63117","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33692,"related_cahpter":"310","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But was it his head or his cloak?","content":"

In I Kings, Elijah’s ability to enact miracles, withhold the rain, revive the dead, and elicit heavenly fire has already been established. This chapter further compounds our impression of the formidable prophet as a man who can summon divine force at will. Our chapter furnishes us with an intriguing visual description of Elijah, namely: “A hairy man (<\/span>ish baal se’ar<\/span><\/em>) wearing a leather belt around his waist” (1:8). Evidently this was Elijah’s standard comportment, as these sparse specifications allow Ahaziah to instantly identify him: “That is Elijah the Tishbite!” (1:8).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Elijah is not the only prophet with a distinctive manner of dress. We read how Samuel’s mother would make him a little robe (<\/span>me\u2019il<\/span><\/em>) every year (I Sam. 2:19) which Samuel continues to wear until he is an old man (I Sam. 28:13-14).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So we see that Samuel has a trademark robe<\/span> which he wore from infancy to death and by which he could be clearly identified! It would seem that Elijah also dressed in a unique style, and his appearance was unusual and immediately identifiable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We have translated the phrase “<\/span>ish baal se’ar<\/span><\/em>” as referring to Elijah’s abundance of hair. Possibly his hair or his beard was particularly long and unkempt:\u00a0 “A hairy man”: with wild hair. “And a leather belt around his waist”: and he cannot appear this way before the king\u201d (Malbim).<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond personal proclivity, might Elijah have been a nazirite? The classic nazir withdraws from society to live in a sacred zone. His long hair marks him as separate from the community, away from the common people. This certainly matches Elijah’s reclusive persona.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Others, however, advocate that the phrase refers to a hairy coat worn by prophets rather than to body hair. This is supported by the depiction of prophets as wearing an “<\/span>aderet se’ar<\/span><\/em>” (Zech. 13:4). Elijah too is repeatedly depicted as wearing an “aderet<\/em>,” a piece of apparel that will feature prominently in the forthcoming chapter. Does the hairy appearance refer to his coat or cloak? Whatever the precise explanation, II Kings 2:23 will cite a depiction of Elisha, Elijah’s successor, as bald. This stark difference between the hairy man and the bald one will allow us to ponder the differences between the prophet and his student.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex Israel, II Kings: In a Whirlwind, Maggid Books, 2019<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":63310,"id":63310,"title":"Alex Israel - 2_kings_cover","filename":"Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-hairy-prophet\/alex-israel-2_kings_cover\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"alex-israel-2_kings_cover","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":63117,"date":"2019-09-23 13:43:41","modified":"2019-09-23 13:53:01","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1711,"height":1821,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-768x817.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":817,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-962x1024.jpg","large-width":962,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1443,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1711,"2048x2048-height":1821,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-1128x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1128,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-395x420.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Excerpts from: II Kings - 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